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For the pluralism in WEB browsers
Don't use one: use several

Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov

Contents

Introduction

This paper is written first for my own consumption -- in order to understand better what browser to use. I created a list strong points for each browser. But after several refinements it seems that the material can benefit others as well. Please take into account that this is still quite raw notes written mainly for the personal consumption.

We will discuss the latest versions of the browsers (IE 5.0 vs. NS 4.51). These versions are definitely preferable to older stable releases (IE 4.01 and NS 4.06). For example, one annoying problem with IE4 was that it does not show URL of the link in focus (a current reference) on the bottom like Netscape Communicator does. Corrected in IE5.

As with any product the real issues are adherence to standards, performance and reliability. I don't think that the difference between IE and NS is so big in any of these issues that one can be considered superior enough to another to abandon weaker competitor completely. At least if your desktop is Windows. In this paper I will argue that for professional it just makes no sense to use only one browser. Both clearly need improvement is certain areas and generally can be considered as more or less equal in strength and weaknesses. 

I use both IE and Netscape. In each browser, I have found things that annoy me, and also features that I wish the other browser had. I use each for different purposes. For example if I need to copy fragment of page into mine I use IE, but I usually load Netscape for browsing.  I think that Netscape Navigator is more convenient than IE  for browsing (bookmarks, personal folder, etc.).

Until recently I used predominantly Netscape and only recently started to understand that IE4 is better than Netscape in several important for me areas and started to change to the second browser on a regular basis, although I still automatically open Netscape first (habits are difficult to change, you know ;-). But I use IE5 for several months now, so I now have a little bit experience with this version too. The IE5 is a paragon of the component model. When you use IE5, you're actually using is about 70 COM components working together. No matter how ecumenical you are about free software, you can't deny this is a good idea; it makes debugging easier and makes the code more reusable. 

It will be interesting to see what of the best features will migrate from IE to Netscape when Communicator 5.0 comes out. 

IE Advantages over Communicator

IMHO IE 5.0 is a mixture of both bright (history pane organization, search pane, etc) and very stupid technical decisions (bookmarks organization)

  1. During cut and paste to the clipboard and than to HTML editor IE preserves HTML formatting and URLs (plain text in Netscape). That' probably the most important single feature that Netscape is missing

  2. History feature is really superior .

  3. Better saving Netscape 4.x lets you store a page in either text or HTML format; but when you save a page in HTML, you get placeholders where the graphics should be. With IE5 you can neatly store a Web page by saving it as a Complete page. You can keep pictures, texts, Java applets, and even Shockwave programs for as long as you like. Alternatively, you can save any page as an Archive, converting all the page's files into a single file. That way you can save the page to a floppy or e-mail the page to a friend without any hassle.

  4. Better bars with more fuctionality

  5. "Subscriptions".   They were first implemented in IE4.0:
    1. Setting up a site subscription is a no-fee, hassle-free way to keep current on information -- even when you're not online. IE 4.0 lets users "subscribe" to any page on the Internet. After you subscribe, IE 4.0 monitors the page, notifies you whenever it changes, and can even deliver the updated content at your convenience to browse offline. Just choose the third option, "Full subscription: download for offline reading." IE 4.0 will check a Web site for changes since your last visit and download any files that have changed. As a user, you can schedule downloads for off-peak hours (saving connect time and money) or have Web content delivered on demand.
    2. It's easy to subscribe to any standard Web page. It doesn't have to be a site's main page -- it can be any page at all. The next time you are visiting it, simply choose Add to Favorites from Favorites on the menubar. It doesn't matter whether you subscribe to five favorite Web sites or 50. IE 4.0 has a built-in Web crawling agent that regularly monitors all your favorite Web sites. When they have changed it adds a "gleam" to the icon next to the site in your Favorites menu. If you like, you can even schedule how often and when your favorite sites are monitored and you can choose to be notified by e-mail as well. No more wasting time visiting a site and combing through it to see if it has changed!

    If you get onto the Internet via a dial-up connection, you know all too well how slow surfing can get--and you may be tired of firing up your modem for a quick peek at a favorite site. IE 5.0 can help by making offline browsing and saving Web pages considerably easier. IE5 adds a handy synchronization feature and two new ways to save a Web page on your hard drive. IYou can also save newsgroup discussions offline. When you hit upon a Web page you like and add it to your Favorites, you're asked if you want to make the page available offline. Click the Customize button, and up pops the Offline Favorite Wizard. Using the Wizard function, you can set how often Internet Explorer checks the site (daily, weekly, or at other intervals), what it downloads (including images and linked pages), and how it notifies you. You can also modify how many levels into a site you want to go, or limit the total size (in megabytes) of the download. Better yet, I can schedule automated return visits to the page to see if anything has changed.

  6. Newsgroups offline reading. Newsgroup messages can be just as short-lived as Web pages. But with the synchronization feature in Outlook Express 5.0, which comes with the full download of the IE5 beta, you can download newsgroup discussion messages for offline reading. However, Outlook Express lacks the wizard functions that let you control what and how much of a site you download, and you can't schedule downloads. To synchronize a newsgroup, open it in Outlook Express and select Synchronize. You could also highlight just the messages you are interested in reading offline, then select Synchronize.
  7. Built-in search engine with a side by side window in NC style. Searching is even better taking the search screen off view once it finds the URL.
  8. Full screen mode is very useful
  9. MS makes the browser's rendering engine a separate component that can be embedded into applications. Many  HTML editors (FrontPage, Homesite, Hot Metal, etc.) has taken advantage of this, and allows to preview web page designs right in the editor.
  10. Better support of cascading stylesheets and advanced HTML features in general.
  11. Better and more powerful editor (FrontPage 2000 - I use full version -- probably close to the top, although many people prefer DreamWaiver)
  12. More flexible scripting language support (Perl can be used)
  13. Has cleaner implementations of DHTML than Navigator.
  14. Much better integration with Office (integration with Office 97 is limited, but FrontPage became part of Office-2000 and that shows in many places). 
  15. IE supports ActiveX, a powerful model similar to Netscape plugins. ActiveX-based approach makes the browser's rendering engine a separate component that can be embedded into applications. It is also known to be a security risk.
  16. Active desktop is a useful add-on

IE Problems

Netscape Navigator Advantages over Internet Explorer

  1. The most important advantage that Netscape has right now is the fact that it runs on and is supported on multiple OSes including Linux.
  2. It can open any frame in a separate window -- operation currently not supported by IE (ort at least I do not know how to do it)
  3. Bookmarks are regular HTML file, not a directory tree. I do not understand advantages of IE approach, but disadvantages are numerous.  Also Communicator's bookmark list expands to fill more columns on the screen when I have a lot of bookmarks.
  4. Better integration with Adobe Acrobat
  5. Better printing (IE printing is horrible in v. 5)
  6. Smart browsing -- considerably simplify finding of the sites you want even if you don't know the exact URLs. Looks like two searches are performed -- first via  http://keywords.Netscape.com and then http://excite.Netscape.com keywords.Netscape.com seems to use lists of trademarks. Communicator 4.5's browsing toolbar will also include a new button called What's Related, which will list sites with information that's similar to what you want. It will take you to your favorite search engine or to the subcategory of the Netcenter directory (powered by Excite!) that most closely matches the topic you're currently exploring.
  7. "Personal Toolbar Folder" is somewhat superior to the Favorites bar in IE, but nor much...
  8. Navigator supports multiple groups of settings, so laptop users can have one setting for work containing one group of preferences and bookmarks, and another setting for home.
  9. You can check where URL lead by just pointing mouse to it
  10. Implementation of JavaScript seems superior,
  11. Cache is easily managed.
  12. Built-in editor is somewhat weak (still usable for minor corrections), but using  a FrontPage 98 Integration Tool for Communicator 4.0 you can launch FrontPage 98 from within Netscape Communicator 4.x.
  13. Implementation of JavaScript is superior (what can you expect ? Everybody learned MS tricks ;-)

Netscape drawbacks

  1. During cut to the clipboard and paste to HTML editor IE preserves HTML formatting and URLs (plain text in Netscape). That' probably the most important single feature that Netscape is missing. Starting with version 4.52. you can move text from editor to NS Messanger preserving HTML formatting, but still no luck with external programs.

  2. In its default setting a new windows inherits your home page -- not to the page that was current -- wrong inheritance (IE has correct semantic); Can be changes via preferences, though.

  3. Working with history is an important activity for serious users. Netscape is too primitive in this respect. It has less convenient access to history (A really bad decision was to put history in Communicator/Tools submenu (who is the author ? ;-) -- IE solution with side by side windows is nicer and it provides for more productive browsing.

  4. Did they fix the bug with Netscape reloading the page whenever you resize the browser?

Reliability

I have had both browsers crash a lot. But as far as can recollect Netscape looks more buggy. For example earlier versions of Netscape 4 had have a very nasty bug:  Netscape regularly crashed my Windows 95 system causing a  reboot. I went to Netscape's home page and found no documentation on the problem. I sent an e-mail to tech support that was never replied to. Later I accidentally had found an answer in one of the newsgroups -- you need to remove lost clusters from the disk and remove history file. After that everything was fine.

I discovers a very strange "feature" of NS 4.51 has the Windows95 environment. This feature is pretty consistent for all versions starting with 4.06 or 4.07. All of them do not start properly after installation (you click the icon and communicator does not start at all)  until one removes old user directory. It starts OK without user directory. Moreover in case of 4.51 after it created a new user directory is does not start properly after rebooting.  A very strange bug and I spend some time trying to bypass it. It was resolved in 4.6... 

Other considerations

During installation Internet Explorer is performing a partial upgrade to the Windows operating system. That can affect other applications. Although I never have problems (sometimes I just noticed that existing bugs just disappeared) other reported about problems with Corel products after upgrade.

Conclusions

None of the browser is much superior and the best way is use them both. Existence of strong competitor guarantee quick advancement of the state of the art. From my (somewhat superficial) experience as a user I feel that currently IE5.0 more or less close in its adherence to standards to NS. Currently with Office 2000 integration,  improved support for HTML and XML and FrontPage integration into Office it looks like IE5 is ready to fight for its market share with NS 4.51 on technical grounds too.

It would be interesting to see how AOL (current owner of Netscape browser products) will play the game with NS v.5.

Webliography

Linux Today Dave Whitinger -- The Battle That Could Lose Us The War

Story Why I'm Abandoning Netscape

Battle of the Browsers

Face-Off Internet Explorer vs. Communicator

ZDNet Products Internet Browsers

Navigator 4

The 5.0 browsers will begin a whole new ball game, but which browser should you use right now? For most of us, the answer is Internet Explorer 4.01. Performance is close, and both browsers have addressed major weaknesses, but in the end, IE's smoother interface and greater flexibility make it a winner.

Microsoft archrival Netscape could benefit by using the Microsoft tools, since it could then focus its programming efforts on profitable server software. But Netscape, cherishing its independence, will continue writing browsers from scratch. Julie Herendeen, Netscape's director of client marketing, says that while it is technically feasible to use IE components, the company has no intention of doing so. The reason: By conceding fundamental design decisions to Microsoft, Herendeen says, Netscape ''would no longer have a role in driving standards for the Internet. It's a good thing to have at least two major voices, and it's very important for Netscape to continue to be involved.''

IE5

Support for Internet Standards

Internet Explorer will continue in its tradition of providing the leading support for standards among Internet browsers. With Internet Explorer 4.0, Microsoft was the leader in support for these key standards technologies:

Internet Explorer 5.0 will offer enhanced support for each of these technologies and will additionally introduce support for these new and upcoming standards­based technologies:

IE4

Copyright © 1996-2008 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov. www.softpanorama.org was created as a service to the UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in the author free time. Submit comments This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is placed under the copyright of the Open Content License(OPL). Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine.

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Created: May 16, 1997; Last modified: February 28, 2008